I made a little video last night. It's one of Chopin's Op. 70 waltzes published posthumously. This is the no. 3 in D-flat major. I think it's charming and I'm glad that it wasn't burned after Chopin's death as he had wanted. The playing is not perfect, as usual, but this is the best of all the takes.

Very pretty. And perfect enough, just one trill that was maybe not optimal. The detached playing is a nice touch though I wonder it it's appropriate - it says legato in the score (Paderewski). For yet further improvement, my suggestions would be to apply a little more rubato, a bit more dynamic contrast (insofar as possible between p and mf) and making the LH sing a bit more in the runs in the trio (such writing by Chopin always has a bit of the cello in it, IMO).

Hi Monica,from my view that´s a nice and correct version of this valse. I have enjoyed it a lot. My suggestions of improvement are to make more dynamic differentiations, f.ex. when the p dolce begins in d flat major at the end, and to do more rubato like Chis´ suggested above already. The detached playing is a nice possibility, but only for the chords, not the melody (which has to be played legato if it´s written) and should not be exaggerated in Chopin pieces, which here is not the case IMHO. Nice video recording, too. (It´s always good to make a video, isn´t it? )

Thanks for the critique, you two! Who knows, had Chopin lived longer maybe he would have changed the RH running bottom notes to be more detached. I didn't really notice this before, though, so I'm glad you pointed it out. I've disable my video and will make a new one in a few days after I've practiced the technique some more. Probably will still not get it perfect....I've come to the conclusion that I will never be a good Chopin player.

_________________"Simplicity is the highest goal, achievable when you have overcome all difficulties." ~ Frederic Chopin

Very pretty and very accurate. I agree that a little more legato might be nice.But I would also say that posting it now would be ok. The "pile-to-be-burnt-after-I-die" works have traditionally been treated with a lot of artistic license, since Chopin himself saw them as sort of sketchpads.The so-called nocturnes 20 and 21 are good examples of this. No two recordings of 20 sound alike and none of them look like what's on the score.(Nocturne 20 (c# minor) is also a good example of a "sketchpad" work, since it's very disjointed and many of the themes resemble bits of other works.)

Thank you, Stu. The more I listen back to myself, the more I hate it! I've been practicing the piece at least a hundred times already today and hopefully a few times tomorrow night before I go for another round of recording.

_________________"Simplicity is the highest goal, achievable when you have overcome all difficulties." ~ Frederic Chopin

Hi Monica, I listened to it this morning but didn't have a score handy to refresh my memory, so didn't comment at the time!I use to play this waltz a long time ago and I just don't buy into the detached upper r.h. I think you can play the lower part of the r.h. detached where there are no legato slurs, but I wouldn't compromise the primary melodic material in that way. Re "good" Chopin playing, I'm no expert but I think a little more rubato give and take would help. I'm biased; you're a more "correct" pianist than I am, but I think you could do with tailoring your approach. You play Spanish music wonderfully, but strangely your Chopin (whilst very clear and precise, themselves commendable qualities) seems to me a touch lacking in nuance. One shouldn't exaggerate rhythmic inflections, or they become distortions - it's very difficult to explain, but keep a sort of lilting dance aspect. Also the sense of dialogue between phrases is important. I'll keep an eye out for version two

Thanks, Andrew. For some reason, I am very uptight when playing Chopin. I have trouble relaxing and just letting myself go (unless I've had a glass of wine and nobody is listening). I'm working real hard on this piece again, so I hope I can make it sound less like an elephant stomping around on the piano keys. Quite possibly this will be the last Chopin I ever play (except for one more of the Trois Nouvelles Etudes).

_________________"Simplicity is the highest goal, achievable when you have overcome all difficulties." ~ Frederic Chopin

You sound exactly how I feel right after recording something. I almost never listen to a recording within a couple of weeks of making it. On the occasions when I do, I utterly hate the results. I recently listened to a really wonderful cello recital on Instant Encore by Laurence Lesser at New England Conservatory, and the first thing he said in his opening commentary was that he was reluctant to allow the recording of the recital to be released online "because of all the faults." Maybe we all feel that way.

Yes, you will be happy playing Chopin again! And whatever the faults of the original, I'm sure you will be able to improve them. Hope we can hear the retake soon (I got to this too late to hear the original)

I had a listen to your recording (that is, before you took it down ) I must confess, I wish I did this (downloaded a copy) of your Rach's Mendelssohn transcription last summer. I liked your recording but I understand you are a very discerning recording player and you stick to the rule of waiting a week to record smth after learning it which is a great practice, though requiring patience, not smth I have. I like to record things the second I learn them!

I have decided now I will not comment on your videos from now on (please don't take it personally. I don't think I'll comment on Andreas' or anybody elses either), because we have talked about this, you are not able to be notified if I comment, so unless you continually check back you cannot know!... Frustrating. I really miss the layout of the old youtube. For your homepage you could select the video which would be the bigger size, and IIRC you'd have a top 9 stack of videos to show below the featured one.

_________________"I don't know what music is, but I know it when I hear it." - Alan SchuylerRiley Tucker

@Heather – thanks for the pep talk It’s nice to know that other people feel the same way I do.

@Riley – Yes, my rule of waiting a week usually pays off, except this time. I still messed it up because of the wrong technique.

Regarding Youtube….can I ask your help again? You know how you commented on one of my videos and then I responded but you didn’t get any notification? Can we go the other way around? Just now I commented on one of your videos. Can you respond so I can see if I get any notification? It’s your Granados - Cuentos de la Juventud video.

_________________"Simplicity is the highest goal, achievable when you have overcome all difficulties." ~ Frederic Chopin

Regarding Youtube….can I ask your help again? You know how you commented on one of my videos and then I responded but you didn’t get any notification? Can we go the other way around? Just now I commented on one of your videos. Can you respond so I can see if I get any notification? It’s your Granados - Cuentos de la Juventud video.

Thanks for your compliment! It's not a great performance as I look back on it, but glad you enjoyed it. I heard your recording and liked it and that's how I decided to record it! OK, so I go to my channel, click on the icon and click "my channel" then on the left upper corner of the screen is a tab that says messages, unfortunately it doesn't light up red like facebook if you have notifications. So it "works" as long as you memorize the last number of messages you had and if you see the number go up then you know... kind of a clunky alert system...

_________________"I don't know what music is, but I know it when I hear it." - Alan SchuylerRiley Tucker

Regarding Youtube….can I ask your help again? You know how you commented on one of my videos and then I responded but you didn’t get any notification? Can we go the other way around? Just now I commented on one of your videos. Can you respond so I can see if I get any notification? It’s your Granados - Cuentos de la Juventud video.

Thanks for your compliment! It's not a great performance as I look back on it, but glad you enjoyed it. I heard your recording and liked it and that's how I decided to record it! OK, so I go to my channel, click on the icon and click "my channel" then on the left upper corner of the screen is a tab that says messages, unfortunately it doesn't light up red like facebook if you have notifications. So it "works" as long as you memorize the last number of messages you had and if you see the number go up then you know... kind of a clunky alert system...

Okay, but you're supposed to comment on my comment. That way I can see for myself if I receive any kind of notification.

_________________"Simplicity is the highest goal, achievable when you have overcome all difficulties." ~ Frederic Chopin

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Google [Bot] and 1 guest

You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forumYou cannot edit your posts in this forumYou cannot delete your posts in this forumYou cannot post attachments in this forum